NBC: Bin Laden may have escaped in Tora Bora again.

U.S. intel officials report that just last month, one of the world’s two most wanted men — bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri — was sighted in Tora Bora, Afghanistan. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reported last night:

U.S. intelligence and military officials tell NBC News overhead surveillance from an unmanned U.S. drone spotted a large al Qaeda security detail, the kind of protection that would normally surround al Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden or his number two Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Intel officials say there was “a high probability” that one of the two men was there. The coalition forces launched an assault for three days on the mountains of Tora Bora, but analysts said the response “was not quick enough to get him.” Military officials admit there were unidentified “planning and coordination problems.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/09/bltorabora.320.240.flv]

In 2001, the U.S. similarly missed an opportunity to get bin Laden in Tora Bora because there were not enough troops and the U.S. relied on local forces who allowed bin Laden to escape.